New image of the president

It’s almost been three months since Georgia has had a new President. Compared with his predecessor, current President Giorgi Margvelashvili is not that active. There are controversial evaluations of his activities. Some accuse him of being rather passive, others believe that Margvelashvili’s behavior and way of life corresponds to the new model of the presidential institute in Georgia.

Margvelashvili is the fourth president of Georgia. According to the new constitutional amendments, the powers and rights of the current president considerably differ form the previous three.

Georgian society is accustomed to the idea that the president is the number one person in the state and that this person should be charismatic. All three previous presidents were actively involved in the major political activities in the country and, in general, all the political processes were concentrated around them.

Particularly hyperactive was Mikheil Saakashvili. This fact really creates a contrast between Saakashvili and Margvelashvili. Of course there are several objective reasons why Margvelashvili is less active.

According to the constitutional amendments that came into force the very day Margvelashvili was inaugurated, the rights and powers of the president have been considerably diminished. He cannot lead the country’s internal or external politics. All these rights and powers were transferred into the hands of the Prime Minister.

Margvelashvili has publicly stated several times that certain issues are not the responsibility of the president. This of course damages the image of the president in the eyes of society.

The second reason why Margvelashvili is less active is the fact that he is not a charismatic leader. It is well known to him as well as the population that he would not have become a president if not the will of then Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The third reason is based on unconfirmed rumours that Margvelashvili has some controversies with the Georgian Dream leadership. The former United National Movement (UNM) administration, which is now in the opposition, aggravated the situation by pushing Margvelashvili to become more active and to get involved in the political life of the country more deeply.

The Georgian population expresses their confidence in Margevlashvili and accordingly they demand from him to fix his position and interfere in the political life as some analysts think. According to the Georgian Dream administration the president responds to all the political activities in the country, but that is done in a business-manner not targeted at PR and propaganda – the moves done by Saakashvili and his UNM administration.

Analysts suggest that Margvelashvili fulfills all his duties in a quiet and calm manner. He does not give ground to the media to create sensational materials that result in scandals.

So, Margvelashvili is a new type of a president. Probably he is the right person to establish the tradition of president who does everything properly and fulfils his duties.

There is an opinion that in the new draft of the state constitution, which is being prepared by the parliamentary constitutional commission, the president will have even more limited responsibilities and rights.